Messi’s Farewell Match Has No English TV Coverage in the US

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On Tuesday night, one of the greatest that ever played the game says goodbye to international soccer.(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Lionel Messi will play his final match for Argentina on Tuesday night against Benin at the Estadio Más Monumental in Buenos Aires, a game the Argentine federation has officially dubbed “El Último Tango,” The Last Tango. It’s one of the most significant send-offs in modern soccer history, with more than 80,000 fans packed into a sold-out stadium. Yet American fans looking for English-language coverage will find none.

No major English-language network in the United States, not Fox, NBC, ESPN, CBS or their streaming platforms, has acquired the rights. The only way to watch in the U.S. is ViX, the Spanish-language streaming service operated by TelevisaUnivision, which is also carrying the match as an add-on channel through Amazon Prime Video, still the same Spanish-language ViX broadcast, just accessible through a second platform. Either way, English-speaking soccer fans in the United States have no official English broadcast option for Messi’s international farewell.

Limited Coverage Beyond Argentina

The thin U.S. availability fits a wider pattern. In Argentina, the match is being treated as a national event, airing free-to-air on TV Pública as well as on TyC Sports and Telefe. Brazil has SporTV. Several other major South American markets currently show no confirmed coverage, and Canada also lacks an English-language broadcaster for the game.

In Europe the options are selective. ‘Premier Sports 2’ will carry the match in Great Britain and Ireland. Spain has it on ‘Movistar Liga de Campeones’, Portugal on ‘SporTV’, Italy on ‘Sky Sport’, the Netherlands on ‘Ziggo Sport’, and France on ‘L’Équipe Live’. Germany, like much of the rest of Central Europe still has nothing listed. Sub-Saharan Africa has ‘SuperSport’, Australia has ‘beIN Sports’.

The kickoff time doesn’t help matters. It’s 8 p.m. in Buenos Aires, 7 p.m. ET in the United States, and 1:00 a.m. in Central Europe. A midweek friendly against Benin, a lower-ranked side on paper, also looks less appealing on a standard rights sheet than a tournament final would. Rights costs set by the Argentine Football Association may have been another factor. Even so, the combination of Messi’s stature and the finality of the night makes the overall lack of broader distribution extremely surprising.

Why the U.S. Gap Matters

American soccer audiences have grown significantly, and Messi remains one of the sport’s biggest individual draws, especially after his run with Inter Miami. Many fans who followed him at club level or watched Argentina’s run to this summer’s World Cup final will want to witness the formal goodbye. Restricting U.S. viewers to a Spanish-language stream, even one now accessible through two platforms, leaves a large share of the potential audience without an accessible official option in English.

Last-minute deals remain possible, and broadcast agreements can shift quickly when interest is high. For now, the situation is straightforward: one of the most meaningful nights in recent soccer history will be unavailable in English on any major U.S. platform.

Confirmed TV & Streaming Coverage (as of Oct. 5)